Techniques are described herein for returning a repository to a prior state. The repository may be, for example a database, and the prior state may be, for example the consistent state that the database had at a particular point in time in the past. When a operator-caused error has been introduced to the database by changes made by an already-committed transaction, the techniques described herein may be used to recover from the error by returning the database to a point in time prior to the commit time of the transaction that introduced the error. The techniques involve the generation of "physical undo" information, and the use of the physical undo information in conjunction with physiological undo and physiological redo to efficiently return a repository to the prior state.